He shot me a look. “And you’re just out here visiting the bigfoot?”

“Want to make sure nobody is trying to stick him with a demon knife again,” I shot back, without a single hint of venom. Go me.

Crash shook his head. “You don’t understand, Bree.”

Oh, screw that. “Then enlighten me. Don’t tell me I don’t understand and then deliberately leave me in the dark. That’s a dick move.” I tried to yank my hand from his arm. “Guys pull that all the time, you know. You don’t understand, but then no follow-up! Why don’t you help me understand then? I am capable of thought.”

His jaw flexed. “No.”

“Oh well, at least we’ve got that out of the way.” I squirmed until my hand was free. But he grabbed it again, locking our fingers together. I glared up at him, my anger rising faster than the water during a hurricane.

He lowered his face to mine so we were nose to nose. “Savannah isn’t safe, Bree. It hasn’t been for a long time, but it’s getting more dangerous. I am doing what I can to stop some of this from happening. Though I doubt your friends would see it that way.”

I glared right back at him. “Some of what exactly? You think killing Eric would have helped? I doubt that very much.”

His eyes narrowed, and I could feel the anger pulsing between us, both his and mine. “Stubborn. Just like your gran.”

“Highest compliment ever.” I tipped my chin up, just a half degree, enough so that I was looking down my nose at him.

Blue and gold eyes raked over me, dipping to my mouth. Oh . . . donkey balls.

Before I could back-pedal, before I could so much as tell him nope, not today, no matter how hot you be, his lips were on mine.

There was nothing tentative about his kiss, nothing that made me think he was worried about hurting me.

No, this kiss was fire and passion, steel sheathed in silk as his arms wrapped around my middle, tugging me against the length of him. Should I have pushed him away?

Should have, could have, didn’t.

Because I was kissing him back. I wove my arms around his neck and let the fire from his mouth, the heat of his touch rip through me without thought. Wildfire, the fire of a need that I hadn’t felt in . . . how long? Never.

The answer was never. No kiss had ever burned through me like this, leaving me fighting to get more of it, to feel more of him against more of me.

Why the hell did someone so wrong for me have to feel so ducking right?

His hands slid under the back of my shirt, pressing against my bare skin, and I groaned against his mouth, unable to stop myself. One hand came around between us, took mine and slid it down, over his belly to—

“Excuse me, hate to interrupt.”

We both froze, tangled together, our lips still touching, my hand precariously close to parts I had seen and admired but hadn’t thought I’d ever be touching.

Crash looked behind me as he slowly let me go, as if completely unembarrassed to have been caught. I was glad for the delay, as my knees and thighs were shaking with lusty adrenaline.

“Bigfoot,” Crash rumbled, his voice thick with darkness and that same fire he’d been kissing me with, and the sound shot straight to my nether regions. I had the ridiculous urge to cross my legs and count to twenty in an attempt to get the feeling to pass.

Eric cleared his throat, and I could imagine him pushing his glasses up on his nose.

I turned to catch the tail end of that very move. His bowtie bobbed with his Adam’s apple and he clasped his hands in front of him. Dressed like a professor, right down to his tweed jacket, the overly tall man looked just like a man. Bigfoot was the shape he could shift into, which left him looking vaguely like a wookie. Not scary at all, and one of the gentlest people I knew.

“Eric,” I said. “I came out to see you. And I got lost.”

“In his mouth?” Eric tipped his head to one side, his words delivered without a trace of sarcasm, as if getting lost in Crash’s mouth were totally possible. Damn.

Maybe even a year before that would have made me blush. Not anymore.

Remember? No more ducks to give.

I shrugged. “What can I say? He’s hotter than sin and a great kisser. Doesn’t negate what he did. I’m still not happy with him about that.”

Crash grunted as if I’d jabbed my elbow into his middle. I looked over my shoulder at him. “Thanks for seeing me to Eric.”

And I walked away from him, slipped my arm through Eric’s and tugged him down what I hoped was the right path.

The thing was, I let myself look over my shoulder at Crash.

Hands on his hips, his eyes locked on mine as he winked and blew me a kiss, which sent the heat unfurling through me once more. So that was the game, was it? I smiled back at him, even as I slid my arm around Eric’s middle.

Take that, Crash.

His laughter followed Eric and me through the forest. And I couldn’t help but smile. Damn it, he threw all the conventions of a stereotypical male out the window.

The problem with that was I liked it a little too much.

9

Eric led me through the swampy forest, not saying much as we put distance between us and Crash. I didn’t realize just how tense I was until I saw his little house waiting for us through a stand of trees and let out a sigh of relief I couldn’t hold back.

“Did you really come out here to see me?” Eric asked, and the hopeful tone in his voice dug at my conscience.

“Yes, I’ve been planning to come out and thank you for the extra money. That was a shocker.” I glanced up at him and he beamed. Freaking beamed with an ear-to-ear smile.

“Were you able to get Celia’s house?”

My own smile slipped. I quickly told him about the auction, then found myself telling him about Kinkly and Karissa too. And about Douche Canoe and his lackey at the Hollows the night before.

He let me into his house and bustled about the small space. “Let me make some tea and get you something to eat, then we can discuss this. It seems like a lot happened in a very short period of time. Not really that unusual for the shadow world, as you’ve seen, but still it can be overwhelming.”

I slumped into a straight-backed chair and looked around the room, taking in the changes. The windows were bigger—he’d had them expanded to let in more light since I was here last. The change was so new, the molding around them was a bright, fresh white. The fireplace wasn’t raging, and there was an overstuffed couch with a hand-knit blanket on the back of it that was calling my name. He’d made a fast turnaround from the freaked-out shut-in I’d met such a short time ago.

The adrenaline, the lust, the fear—it all left my body in a rush and I slumped in my seat. “Eric, I am too old for this shit.”

“No, I was wrong about that,” he said as he pushed a cup of tea into my hands and sat down across from me, “I’d wager you are just the right age. Old enough to have life experience in dealing with people, young enough to still make things happen. Perfect.” He clinked his tea cup against mine, and damn it, my eyeballs started swimming. I dashed away the tears.

“Thanks, Eric.”

“You showed me that,” he said softly. “I used to hate being judged but I did it to you. Then you showed me that I was wrong, so very wrong. You saved my life. No amount of money can ever repay that. But I hope you’ll accept a lifelong friend.”

Yup, swimming eyeballs again. I reached over and squeezed his hand and nodded, then took a sip of tea, the warmth sliding through me. I put the cup down, knowing I should head back to Corb’s to sleep, or even Gran’s. But I didn’t think I’d make it. A thought came to me.

“Could I stay here for the next few . . . mornings? I’m doing a job out here, and it takes all night.” I paused. “I can pay you.”

He flopped his big hands at me. “I wouldn’t hear of it. But given what you said about Karissa and Kinkly, I’m guessing this has something to do with the fairy-crossed land?”

My eyebrows shot up. “Fairy-crossed land?”

He leaned back in his chair and stretched his legs. “There are chunks of land in our world that still belong to the fae. They are holy to them, and the fae protect what’s theirs. It’s said these places are guarded by magic so old no one knows how or even who created the spells. It’s said the land not far from here protects a very powerful item that could give the bearer great and terrible gifts.” He paused and took another sip of his tea. “The fairy queen has been making the rounds the last few days, but Crash chased her off.”

“Can I trust the queen?” I asked. “I mean, thinking back to my last conversation with her, I’m sure she didn’t tell me everything.”

Eric stared into his tea as if the answer would be found there. “Honestly? The fae, as you know, are all slippery. Take a look at Crash. He helped Hattie. But then he helped you too. So I would say that depending on the day, and what you bring to the table, the answer is maybe. Maybe trust her.”

I downed the last of my tea and Eric pushed a plate of pastries toward me. They were stuffed with jam, and I didn’t know what they were, but they filled my mouth and my belly as he continued to talk.

“If you’re dealing with the fae, be careful. The queen is . . . difficult at best. And Crash is Crash. He’ll use whatever means necessary to get his way. Even seduction isn’t below him.”

The pastry in my mouth turned to concrete and I struggled to swallow it down. “Right. Because he’s fae?”

Holy crap, Crash was fae?

Eric wrinkled his nose up and wrapped his big hands around the tea cup, completely engulfing it. “Yes, but he’s one of very few who can live in both our world and the fae realm. The rest need to go back and forth regularly to keep their beauty and power strong. Not him.”

My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. “I thought the fae didn’t like steel, I thought it burned them. I know he can touch it, he makes weapons.”

Eric smiled. “Crash isn’t his first name. It’s the one he’s taken. He’s the Smith, Bree. He’s the fae king.”